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How to Pick the Right Makeup Colours for Your Skin Tone

Picking the perfect makeup palette to complement your complexion may seem like a daunting task if you’ve ever stood in the makeup aisles testing out foundations on the back of your hand. Too dark, too light, too chalky or too orange. No one wants to look like they’ve just walked off the set of an Oompa Loompa movie!

With so many variations to choose from, it can seem like you need some sort of degree to get it right but rest assured it’s not hard to do if you know how to select and stick to a family of colours that works for your skin tone, eye colour and hair shade.

According to Sam Well, a beauty consultant at YesWellness, Understanding the true colour of your skin is mainly about figuring out your skin’s undertone, which is the key to buying the right shade and creating the perfect makeup look. This is something top makeup artists make look like a cake walk, but because we can’t all have a divalicious glam crew standing by our sides first thing in the morning before we’ve had our coffee, we have come up with a few tips and tricks for you to follow.

The key to a great foundation coverage is to apply to a cleansed face, one of the most common mistakes is putting foundation on dry or uncleansed skin. This leaves your skin looking dry, scaly and unnatural.

You’ve most likely heard the terms “cool,” “warm,” or “neutral” to describe how a certain shade will look on skin. Those are the terms refer to your skin’s undertone and are used to define which shade will match it the best. Cool, warm, or neutral undertones are the colours that show through your skin from under the surface to affect its overall tone.

If you have a darker skin, be sure that the foundation does not make you look ashy. If so, try a different colour or a yellow-based foundation.

Neutral Undertones:

Have no obvious undertones of pink or yellow below the skin, but rather the skin’s natural colour is more apparent.

The surface colour of your skin can change depending on a few things. In summer, for instance, your skin has a tendency to get darker. You could be affected by the redness of rosacea, dullness or hyperpigmentation from a little too much time in the sun.

There are a few ways in which you can determine your skin’s undertone. If you look at the inside part of your wrist you should be able to see the underlying colour shows fairly well. An example of which would be the colour of your veins, bluish veins would mean you have cool undertones whereas greenish veins would indicate warm undertones.

Let’s get down to colours!

We all need a little pop of colour here and there, a bit of colour can brighten up an entire canvas so why not brighten up your most used canvas.

Cool (Fair/Light) undertones:

Whether your skin is dark or light with cool tones, you can benefit from wearing cool-toned pinks, purples, reds, blues, greens and greys. Deep purple or grey eyeshadows will make your eyes stand out. Choose a vibrant bluish-pink blush to add just the right amount of pop to your cheeks and top off your look with a Cherry Red lip to show that little fiery spark you have inside.

Have fun with brighter colours like a cool-toned hot pink lip if the Cherry Red is a little too bland for your fiery personality. These colours will make your skin look magnificently flawless!

Warm (Medium) undertones:

People who have warm skin tones look best in warmer colours. That inner golden goddess is begging for you to reach for oranges, orange-reds, peachy pinks, bronze browns and golds for the eyes. Add a pop of peach or orange blush to those cheeks and really enhance your look by topping it off with an orange-red lip instead of a berry-toned red.

Neutral skin tones:

People with neutral undertones have won the makeup lottery when it comes to choosing colours. Switch things up a bit from time to time, cool-toned deep purples one day and bronze shadow with a pop of gold the next.

Have fun with it, your face is your canvas to the world and neutral skin tones are lucky enough to be able to rock any colour.

Always remember the term “less is more” when it comes to makeup. The full face look can come together quite nicely with a few bursts of the right colour here and there.

When it comes right down to it, Irrespective of what your skin tone is and what colours you wear, always remember to do what you feel is best and most comfortable for you.

These are not rules, but rather guidelines to point you the way to bringing out the unique and beautiful goddess that you are!